This year’s annual Glynn Cup competition between local rivals Galwegians and Corinthians will once again produce a festival of rugby on St Patrick’s Day.
The competition takes place in Crowley Park with every age group team in the two clubs contesting for the overall trophy which was first played on March 17, 1959 in honour of Johnny Glynn and continued up until 1999 when Corinthians won their 21st title.
Traditionally played as a one-off fixture between the senior teams, last year the two clubs resurrected the trophy with a novel competition that involved all teams from both clubs in a Ryder Cup style match play contest. The teams also battle for the Langan Trophy which is incorporated into the competition with points from underage games from 13s up to 19s counting towards that event.
At this week’s launch Galwegians’ club president Derrick Murphy said the competition was an important role event in promoting club rugby in the west of Ireland, while Corinthians’ president Dr Des Bluett said the competition had generated huge excitement last season.
Last year's event attracted some 3,000 people to Corinthian Park and went down to the final game of the day to decide the winner. Galwegians took the title with a 14-10 victory in the senior game.
Internationals such as Wales coach Warren Gatland, new Connacht coach Eric Elwood, Brendan Guerin and Tony O’Sullivan played for Galwegians, while Noel Mannion also took part for Corinthians during his career. Ciaran Smyth leads the way in Glynn Cup wins having played in 14 Corinthians victories, while Danno Heaslip was on the winning Galwegians’ team 10 times.
